


Light Up A Spark

by Oboeist3



Series: TIL Universe Extras/Spinoffs [1]
Category: Wander Over Yonder
Genre: Gen, TIL Universe, Trans Characters, Unhealthy Relationship(s), basically some backstory for Awesome that got cut from chapter 30, human!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-17
Updated: 2016-12-17
Packaged: 2018-09-09 08:25:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8883787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oboeist3/pseuds/Oboeist3
Summary: A character analysis, of sorts, for the annoyingly awesome astronomer known as Mano Wong.





	

When Mano Wong was seven years old, his mother's sister, 'Anake Ellie, came to visit. He had been so excited, he'd never met family outside his parents before. His father's lineage might as well be a broken twig, halfway across the world and with not enough in the coffers to visit for no good reason. Mom's family was closer, but it took near a decade for them to forgive her for running off with an exchange student with broken English and dreams of making it. 

Not that Mano had known all of that then, or particularly cared. He just wanted to have stories for the playground at school after break. He already felt like a freak, even the handful of other Chinese kids said his eyes were too wide, that he spoke funny. Which Mano didn't think was fair, his Cantonese was better than most of theirs. It wasn't his fault when Pidgin slipped in. That's just how they talked at home. 

But now he would have something in common, something the same. Extended family. An aunt and an uncle and some cousins, if he was lucky. And for once, fortune did smile on Mano. 

~~~

There were three of them, four if you counted the swell under 'Anake Ellie's dress that led him to proclaim 'you're big!' upon her arrival. She had just laughed and commented he truly was her kaikaina's son. 

Of the three outside her tummy, two were disappointing, story-wise. There was Kala, a six month old who only seemed to sleep and throw food goop. She didn't seem like much of a princess, by his standards. Then there was Ano, a three year old who's sole purpose in life was to play with his toy trains and watch Sesame Street. No, there was only one satisfactory cousin for playground glory, and that was Joseph. 

Joseph was ten, and more importantly, a fifth grader. He was already almost as tall as his father, Uncle Sebastian, and had stolen his strange sea-blue eyes and ruddy Irish complexion. He looked more like the kids from the Catholic school down the street than his siblings and mother. Mano wondered if he got teased for being different too. It didn't seem likely though, he was just too **cool** to be made fun of. 

Joseph wore a baggy leather jacket with stars on the shoulders and jeans with ripped knees, even though winter in San Francisco didn't warrant either. He never acted excited about things, not even Christmas presents, and his standard answer to questions was a shrug and 'whatever.' He'd kissed a girl behind the gym after the fourth-grade dance, swore freely, sometimes even around his **parents** , and next year, he was going to get his ears pierced.

Mano thought that Joseph was the most badass kid he'd ever met. He was the closest thing to an action movie hero in real life. He followed him everywhere, imitating everything from his posture to his retro slang. Mano was too young to know how annoying this duckling imprinting could be, too enthralled to see how much contempt his older cousin held for him. Finally, it reached a tipping point. The kind where cruel ideas started popping up. 

~~~

"You wanna be cool little man?" Joseph asked one late afternoon, in his usual flat tone. Feverish nodding. "Alright then. Go off and do something daring. Something brave. Ain't nothing cool about a coward." 

Mano nodded sagely, this made perfect sense in the realm of the child. But he wasn't quite old enough to make the next logical jump, so he asked. 

"Like what?" 

"I don't know. Something you've never been able to do?" he suggested, uncaring. 

This had taken some thinking. Mano wasn't one to let things get in his way. His sheer stubbornness made most obstacles crumble: parents, teachers, classmates. If he really wanted something, there wasn't a force on Earth that could stop him. Except, perhaps, a force of nature. 

"Well...there is one thing." Mano muttered, unsure, his gaze locked on his shoes. 

"Then why are you still here?"

Soon he wasn't, rushing off on his adventure as fast as his tiny legs could take him. 

~~~

Mano didn't return until the sun was nearly down, chin streaked with red and holding two teeth in his right palm. 

"What the hell did you do to yourself?!" Joseph half-screamed, eyes wide in abject horror. 

"I slid down the big bannister in the park, the one the skateboarders use. I missed the landing but I did it! Plus, I get tooth fairy money, score!" he said, his words made muddled by the f sounds the holes tacked to them. 

"Are you insane?!" 

"But I did what you said?" 

"This isn't what I meant!" he said, throwing his hands up in the air in almost comic despair. "I was just trying to get you off my case." he admitted.

"Oh." Mano said, with the instant recognition from all kids ever dubbed annoying. He hadn't meant to bother him, but intention never meant much, not to older people. "Sorry. I'll leave you alone now. Don't worry, I won't tell on you. I'm not that bad." 

"Mano -" The front door cut his oldest cousin off, but Mano could tell what he was going to say. Some apology he didn't really mean. He was already familiar with their hallow echo. 

But even after the scolding from his father and the tender press on ice on his cheek from his mother, even after 'Anake Ellie and her family flew back to Oahu, Mano Wong never really stopped wanting to be like the boy in the unnecessary leather jacket. 

* * *

Two years later, Mano kissed a boy in the locker rooms after their kickball team won the tournament, sounding beating Mrs. Gertcher's honors class. He doesn't remember his name anymore, but he was a few inches taller and had a scratchy chin that tickled his. It felt nice. The boy had scrunched up his nose, said he tasted like sweat, and told him to keep his 'weird immigrant customs' to himself. Later, once he knew better, Mano was glad for the lucky non-reaction.

That night, he announced his triumphant first kiss as an equal victory to that of the tournament win. His mother squealed with delight, asking a flurry of questions about who she was and what she was like. His father didn't look up from his newspaper. 

"It wasn't a **girl** , mouh-chan!" he had said, ignorantly indignant. His mom stopped her torrent immediately, her eyes going as wide as saucers, before pulling him into a hug and saying how brave her little warrior was, coming out so young. He didn't understand any of it, but knew it was important when his father threw in his two cents.

"Be careful." 

And that was the end of that. 

~~~ 

Three years after that, Mano French kissed a French Horn player in practice room C. Her name was Abby, or something like that, and her braces were cool against his tongue. She smelled like strawberries, and giggled when she asked if they could get milkshakes sometime. He said yes, but only if they could get bubble tea the time after that. 

That night, he'd asked his mother over dinner what you should wear on a first date. She reacted much as mothers always do about such things, asking what his name was, was he handsome, was he nice. 

"She's in the band, makua, and she's very pretty." he said, once he could finally get a word of his own in. Mom had just stared at him, her jaw wide, and unsure what to make of this development, or if she had done something wrong. His father huffed out a short laugh, a great show of emotion for him, and said that unsure natures must run in the family. 

Mano didn't understand that either, but his mother's distraction meant he could slide his broccoli into the garbage and still ask for dessert, which he did. The strawberry chunks in the ice cream reminded him of Abby, and the chip on one of her incisors. 

~~~

There were many people Mano kissed and subsequently dated between then and his sophomore year of college, men, women, people who didn't bother choosing one, or were both. Carmen was the first of what his father would call the 'unsure crowd'. They wore short skirts and designer jeans, and had stubble that scratched wonderfully when they kissed his neck. Their fingers were long and slender, and gracefully taught him how to paint fingernails properly, and put on eyeliner. Among other things. 

Two months in Carmen realized were in love with their best friend, and tearfully broke up with him. Mano was a little sad at first, but Carmen and Lucy were so cute together he couldn't stay that way. Years later, he said a toast at their wedding, and he was the one bawling his eyes out. 

Then came Grace, he was an art major who made her binders by hand. He was short and stubborn and had a cloying air of despair at the future. She taught Mano out of his gag reflex before the melodrama made the relationship fall apart. 

But only one person had ever really broken his heart. Seth, a senior astronomy major who calibrated the telescopes at SERENDIP. She had green hair and a crooked smile that made his heart jump to his throat. She teased him, kissed him but never let him kiss back, and kept him on his knees near constantly. He never felt like he could say no to her, or he'd lose everything he'd earned so far, even when it hurt. It was bad, really unhealthy. It might have been a whole lot worse if the director hadn't found out and fired her. 

Everything became a flurry of pity and paperwork, and Mano made a decision. No more serious relationships. No more caring. No more love. 

It worked for years, casual relationships, one night stands, discreet visits to the scene without his real name, pretending he didn't want more than to have his ass kicked and called horrible things. It wasn't perfect, but it was close enough. He was ok. 

Until a one-eyed, suffering, beautiful veteran started working at exoplanet observation, and Mano was fucking doomed. 


End file.
